I miss Zoo TV era U2...

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The only thing I really miss is Bono's vocal ability from that era, that's pretty much it. Honestly I think Edge and Adam have evolved and really progressed and have become much more proficient guitar and bass players. I don't get hung up on whatever ideals and supposed beliefs Bono had about the industry and about the world that a 31-32 year old era Bono had back then. The industry's changed, the world has changed, Bono has changed. Achtung Baby was a good album, and to a degree it was dark, U2 had shifted their sound radically and it was an album fueled by heartache.

Zoo TV held its place in time and really it's a period piece. I think its theme and some of what it attacked, the media for example, can still hold ground today. But it was what it was.
 
So you want lame grandpa Macphisto?

Seriously that sounds horrible...

What a ridiculous comment. So Bono is too old to act at 49 is he? Don't be absurd- most thespians don't play Lear until they're in their fifties. The Devil is thousands of years old anyway and Macphisto always was a declining, degenerate figure, or to use your slang "he always was lame." That's part of the joke.
 
What a ridiculous comment. So Bono is too old to act at 49 is he? Don't be absurd- most thespians don't play Lear until they're in their fifties. The Devil is thousands of years old anyway and Macphisto always was a declining, degenerate figure, or to use your slang "he always was lame." That's part of the joke.

That wasn't a remark on Bono's age, it was a remark on the idea. It was just a rehashed idea with new words... :yawn:
 
That wasn't a remark on Bono's age, it was a remark on the idea. It was just a rehashed idea with new words... :yawn:

Well Bono could come up with far more interesting ideas than me- nevertheless troubled times like these would make Macphisto's return very apt.
 
I'm hoping for a drastic transformation from Vertigo tour. something crazy. It must be said that the shades are getting a little tired. We need something dramatic, methinks! some drama!


I agree the shades are getting tired. But unfortunately, while it was originally for artistic reasons that he put them on, now it's for MEDICAL reasons.

:sad:
 
Seriously, why are you suddenly on your high horses? Nobody is saying the current U2 sucks, they're merely saying the U2 of the 90's - especially the ZooTV period was impressive and sad to missed. Why do you some of you have to say you prefer it was forgotten etc? What's wrong with a little recognition? Jesus, is everyone so pro current U2 they can't have an opinion of the past? :|
 
Seriously, why are you suddenly on your high horses? Nobody is saying the current U2 sucks, they're merely saying the U2 of the 90's - especially the ZooTV period was impressive and sad to missed. Why do you some of you have to say you prefer it was forgotten etc? What's wrong with a little recognition? Jesus, is everyone so pro current U2 they can't have an opinion of the past? :|


Who are you talking to? Who said they prefer it was forgotten?:huh:

I think there is a difference between "recognition" and saying I miss something, missing something infers it was still here.
 
Seriously, why are you suddenly on your high horses? Nobody is saying the current U2 sucks, they're merely saying the U2 of the 90's - especially the ZooTV period was impressive and sad to missed. Why do you some of you have to say you prefer it was forgotten etc? What's wrong with a little recognition? Jesus, is everyone so pro current U2 they can't have an opinion of the past? :|


Good post. I don't think there any harm in Macphisto returning by the way- I know the curmudgeons above will mock me but it would really interest me to catch up with the Devil after all these tumultuous years.
 
Who are you talking to? Who said they prefer it was forgotten?:huh:

I think there is a difference between "recognition" and saying I miss something, missing something infers it was still here.

You're actually right. I was just a little annoyed, that on some other threads some of the same people keep saying they think U2 are right to look to the future and never in the past. Basicially it's like ignoring that U2 did some great stuff in the past. I mean, when I read that some people (who are diehard U2 fans) actually come out and say ZooTV was embarrassing etc, I think "WHAT THE HELL?!" It just further prompts the point in my mind that they are just saying it because they want to agree on the same level as the band in regards to looking to the 'future'. It's like not having an opinion of their own; it's just like merely going with whatever the band thinks/does on the assumption they are always right.

Maybe I am looking into it too deeply.


Don't flame me. :reject:
 
ZOO TV was the most brilliant satire and the most extravagant festival of art and music the world has ever seen. If you dont get it- thats perfect! It takes you to another world that show, a 1984 type world where everyone is always watching you and subliminal messages take over your mind. We become numb to media. U2 took something simple like a rock concert and made it an "Event"

and if you dont understand it- then thats fine because at least it got your attention. but if ZOO TV still went on now it would lose its appeal. I think its best to see it documented as a memory of the past. :applaud:
 
ZOO TV was my favorite piece of u2's history. it was perfect for the time. it wouldn't fit today. if you think about it, we're living in a ZOO TV type world now. i would like to see a few AB songs come back( ultraviolet, TTTYAATW, wild horses, so cruel). this new tour, the stage, the album, is very exciting.
 
It's all part of the history of the band I love, I wouldn't want to miss anything, but I'm glad they are looking ahead and not going back to doing anything they've done before. It was a great concept and right at that time, but I don't "miss" it as in: I would like to see that again. At this point of their carreer, it just wouldn't fit. I embrace everything the band has done, even though there are things that don't appeal to me that much, but I accept that it's all part of their history. At times, ZooTv was an overkill for me, just "too much", and I was never a fan of Bono's stage personas, even though I acknowledge that these were interesting, intelligent concepts, they just didn't appeal to me that much.
 
I still can't think of another example of an artist or band so completely reinventing themselves. To think that two years before, they we doing the Rattle & Hum tour. If they didn't so completely embody what they were doing with the Fly and the whole Zoo motif, it would have never worked. Even talking about something like that in 1989 would have been unthinkable.
 
Since NLOTH has been released, I've been sort of "re-discovering" U2, and of course I've been drawn back to my favorite period in the band's history - the period that got me into U2 - the 90's, and the Zoo TV era.

Watching old You Tube clips of interviews of the band during the early 90's just reminds me so much of why I got into this band. Bono's swaggar, his style, everything about him during Zoo TV was just so unbelievably unlike anything else out there. They way he just manipulated every interviewer, and seemed aboslutely confident that the band was doing what it felt was best - regardless of what anyone thought or said. And I don't care if the whole thing was an act or full of irony or whatever. To me, that's who Bono was, and that's the reason I got into this band. Zoo TV got me into U2, and so understandably, everything since then (the changes) have been sort of a let down.

Don't get me wrong: I still love this band and I always will. Their 00's work has, for the most part, sat well with me. However, as I've re-discovered U2 these past few weeks, I have come to realize why this band is my all-time favorite, and I can point to the period of 1991 - 1993, when U2 far more than a great rock band, and Bono was just short of a god.

Thankfully, I'll always have the videos and the music to preserve that amazing period of time.

I feel the exact same way. It's not that the 00's era is bad, it's just missing a certain "oomph", a certain sexiness, a certain playfulness and a certain willingness to be daring in the face of the world. I wouldn't want them to replicate Zoo TV again, but I miss the energy and the entire vibe from that era. But it was an especially exciting memorable time for me, being a 12-13 year old discovering her own taste in music (and men!) for the first time in her life. ;) So perhaps it's just nostalgia?
 
I feel the exact same way. It's not that the 00's era is bad, it's just missing a certain "oomph", a certain sexiness, a certain playfulness and a certain willingness to be daring in the face of the world.
when you're approaching the age of 50 at rapid speed chances are it would be considered sad, misguided and desperate instead of sexy, playfull and daring though
 
yes i miss ZooTV era very much... U2 at their best
1992: Munich + Frankfurt
1993: Munich + Stuttgart + Berlin
today i had Achtung Baby on my car stereo... i had goosebumps and i was very happy:drool:
 
when you're approaching the age of 50 at rapid speed chances are it would be considered sad, misguided and desperate instead of sexy, playfull and daring though


Oh, definitely. In fact, it would just be disturbing. Hence, I wouldn't want them to redo what's been done.
 
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